


everything's going to be alright

by EasyPeasyPanic



Series: all of my founders era fics [14]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble, Itama lives, There was no way in heck that Madara would've been cool with grown ass Uchiha ganging up on a kid, This is about as decriptive as I'm going to get in tags, i'm tired guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23272687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EasyPeasyPanic/pseuds/EasyPeasyPanic
Summary: Too late, Madara's already thrown himself between his own men and the terrified kid that reminds him way too much of Kurohi with his brave face in the middle of danger.______Or Uchiha Madara would never just standby and let a bunch of adults kill a child
Relationships: Uchiha Madara & Senju Itama
Series: all of my founders era fics [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718458
Comments: 7
Kudos: 227





	everything's going to be alright

**Author's Note:**

> i love itama with all my heart
> 
> honestly this is just based off of something i drew on tumblr when i was bored

* * *

_Don't get involved. Don't get involved. Don't get involved. Don't--_

Too late, Madara's already thrown himself between his own men and the terrified kid that reminds him way too much of Kurohi with his brave face in the middle of danger. 

"We ordered a retreat." He tells them, shoving the kid against the stone behind him, sending him flying backwards, armor against stone. (Madara's never had a full set of armor like this kid. He's never had more than a chest plate that he inherited from his second cousin Hiro.) The boy stifles back a cry, and Madara sees tears _there_ , down his bruised cheeks, and he thinks this isn't _fair_. 

This kid's way too small to die here. Just like Akaishi and Reisen and Kurohi had been way too little to die _there_ , on all those different battlefields.

One of them steps forward, his Sharingan _spinning_ even at his clan heir. Madara doesn't recognize him, but he hadn't been entirely introduced to the entire clan's lower rank shinobi yet, but the man wears a red-and-white uchiwa across his back, and he'll _respect_ him either way. 

The scarred man scoffs, "What's the problem, Madara- _sama_ ?" He asks, but he looks like the cat that's just found a wounded bird. There's animosity in those red eyes, that makes Madara take a step back. He has a hand against his sword. "It's just a _Senju_."

Madara's back straightens, and he looks him right in the eyes. "He's a _little boy_ . Just a kid. His entire unit's already dead." He waves his hand across the darkening forest, at the scattered bodies and the bloodstains slung across the grass and the bark of the trees. The ground stinks of iron and bile. "There's five of you, and one of him. You've already won. _We've_ already won."

His cousin Hikaku's father steps forward, his dark eyes narrowed, and his hand against the hilt of his blade. Madara tightens his own grip, muscles trembling from his unbearably tight hold on his own blade. 

"We're just finishing what we started." He offers, glancing at the Senju kid from over Madara's shoulder, and it makes him feel sick to his stomach. But he hears the sniffles and he thinks back to a few moments ago, and the Senju's eyes had been _so brave_. So brave, just like Kurohi's that day when they got seperated on the battlefield with the Yamanaka, and his little brother's fierce, desperate battle cry still echoes around his head. 

"Leave him alone." Madara _orders_ , with as much authority as he can muster, in the same tone his father uses when he has to show the clan he's confident and _sure_ of his decision. "There isn't any honor in this. He's just a boy, and we outnumber him. Besides, my father ordered a retreat, there could be reinforcements. You should be retreating. Are you disobeying orders?"

He raised an eyebrow, and leaned backwards a little. Kept his muscles tense and ready to _pounce_ , like a predator readying to catch it's next meal. Madara steadies his hands, but can't control his wild heartbeat as it pounds in his ears, and threatens to completely deafen him. He shouldn't be involved, shouldn't _care_ about a Senju, but now he is involved and he can't get the image of Kurohi out of his head. His little brother's final battle cry is louder now, so much louder, than his own heartbeat, the last thing he did before being easily picked apart by the Yamanaka's blade. 

The Senju's just a kid. He's just a kid, like Kurohi, and just as brave as his baby brother. 

"You're going to defend him. A fucking Senju." One of them says, with a scar across his face. The Shuriken in his hands is large, and looming dangerously close to Madara's body, but he keeps his cool. They won't go against him. Loyalty is the backbone of the Uchiha, and Madara is their _heir_. They don't have very many of those anymore. 

_This was a bad idea. I shouldn't have gotten involved_. 

Madara snorts, "I'm not defending anyone." But he definately has his hand pressed up against cold armour, and that's definately a kunai pressed up against his back from the exact kid he's defending, and he's running out of options on what to do. "But there isn't any honor in slaughtering a seven year old. Look at him, he isn't worth the effort. You're all grown men. Disperse _now_."

"There wasn't any honor in my six year old daughter's death either, Madara-sama." One of them drawls out, inching closer, and his hand steadies far too quickly on the hilt of his blade. "So I'm returning the favor. Don't you _care_ that these bastards have killed _our_ children? Our family? Your own brothers? And you stand there _allied_ with one!" 

They've got him circled too, with no signs of moving. And it hits him like cold water (like how Izuna wakes him up in the morning after missions) that they've not lessened any of their killing intent, chakra flaring violently and almost vile. 

" _Move_." He commands again. But they don't listen. 

Hikaku's father pulls his blade first. "A Senju…" he murmurs, and everything clicks together in Madara's head. They're going to kill this kid, even if it means they have to stab and slice right through Madara to get to him. He sucks in a deep breath, and straightens his back. 

Do they hate the Senju _that_ much that the idea of sparing _one_ snotty-nosed kid was enough to turn them treasonous? Was it that consuming, that toxic that it ate away at them to the point they couldn't look past all the anger and rage and grief to look at a scared _kid_ behind him? A _kid_. 

Madara knew anger. He knew grief. It ate away at his belly some nights, made him want to burn away the entire Senju camp sometimes, when he thought of his brothers, and the Yamanaka too. But when he looks at this kid, it doesn't seem like such a good idea, and maybe if the Yamanaka that killed Kurohi had looked at him and seen a kid, he'd still be alive.

Madara won't have this kind of guilt on his conscience, even if he isn't the one doing the killing. He can't just walk away from this madness.

He's tired of dead kids and dead men and dead everybody. Madara glances back the ruffled brown and ivory hair, and he wonders if this kid has brothers or sisters who will miss him. Or maybe they're all dead, too. He's just so tired of death. 

Scarface's voice turns mocking and apologetic, "We didn't get to you in time. We apologize, Tajima-sama, but war is war, and it spares nobody. It was the Senju." His face twists into a wild, thoughtless smile. Tilts his head. "My brother and father didn't _die_ for our clan to have you dishonor by defending one of the bastards that killed them, you disgraceful brat!"

Madara wants to spit in their faces, because Uchiha are supposed to be noble and have morals. The best of the best in terms of skill, unmatched and worthy of a shinobi's death. These men, going after a lone child, don't embody the _honor_ of his clan or their worth. The Uchiha are _above_ slaughtering scared little kids, and even his father wouldn't demean himself for such petty revenge. There are better targets, worthier adults with bigger kill counts, and who can fight back in equal combat.

"Take off the armor." He says to the crying Senju, even if it feels like there are bees stinging the inside of his belly because of _this_. Because a part of him does regret helping the enemy, but a bigger part can only think of his four brothers. "Take off the armor, because it's too heavy. Now." 

The kid doesn't move a muscle. 

_Why whould he? Why would he listen to an enemy?_

"I said _now_ ." He snaps, impatient and almost scared. He's like Izuna, this Senju, he isn't _listening_ . Izuna gets a huge kick out of making his big brother's temper flare, out of waiting until the last possible second before _finally_ listening to him or doing what he's told, and Madara can't handle that now. He can't yell or lose his temper or take his eyes off his own clansmen, not even the one of them that used to be married to his late aunt. "Do you _want to die_?" He says harshly, even if it makes him feel bad at the hitch in his breath. 

It all happens in slow motion. Madara sees _red_ , and he hears the heavy _thud_ of metal behind him, and he sees Hikaku's father move like everything was happening seconds later. He twists his body backwards easily, boxing the kid in like a shield, and blocking a wakizashi with a kunai, and throws his sword down. It's a katana, too heavy for him to carry on him fast and far too difficult to wield on the move. So it has to go, even if it's a family heirloom from his great-grandfather or something. 

"Hold on!" He shouts suddenly, and the kid barely hooks onto his back fast enough for Madara to flee. He meets each blade with a kunai, at a disadvantage because of his exhaustion and their experience, but he's _Uchiha Madara_ . He's the best of his generation, the best of his clan, he's the son of the _best_ , and he's just as skilled as any adult, even if his muscles burn and he wants to just go home. He swings his leg into Scarface's stomach easily, leaping towards the trees to flee on the branches, but can't avoid the kunai landing beside his feet. 

Everything goes red again and slows down. His eyes burn like when Izuna blew spices into his face last winter, and he meets the next two sword swings blow for blow. Sparks flew. Metal sparked. Madara blinks and there's _his hand_ covered in blood. His kunai lodged into his own uncle-in-law's side. 

The man sputters out something, eyes wide and shocked. Madara can see the visable hatred in those red, Sharingan eyes, but he doesn't acknowledge them. Doesn't even bother pulling his blade out, just gets another from his pouch. 

_They attacked me first. They can after me first. I'm not doing anything wrong_ , he justifies childishly, ducking under a barrage of shuriken. He doesn't have the time or chakra to create fire, he has to reserve what he has left, so he flees. He flings his own shuriken to knock them all back, and goes again for the trees as kunai come at his back. He dodges them, turning backwards, his sandals hitting the solid wood of a branch with a resounding _thump._

"Stay low." He demands, a handful of smoke bombs in his hands, he can't bring himself to kill these hatred-fueled traitors, not if he doesn't have to. He will _later_ after their actions have been revealed to the elders and father, even if they're family, because obviously they don't view _him_ as family or even respect him. Going against him, the son of Uchiha Tajima, was treason. His father can handle the situation, but for _now_ , Madara has to get rid of this kid as fast as he can. 

That was the biggest part of the problem. 

The irony of the situation isn't lost on him. Which offence was worse? Who was the traitor in this situation? Madara for saving the kid or his clansmen for going after Madara? It was like one of those badly written drama-action stories Uchiha Hannei enjoyed to write and then read aloud for the whole clan. 

"You fucking traitor! A brat like you doesn't _understand_ the loss we've experienced. Those Senju are born evil, born _heartless_ . Not even their children are innocent!" The oldest of the traitorous Uchiha shouts furiously, all cropped grey hair and scarred hands. It distracts him momentarily, and then suddenly Madara can't avoid the giant shuriken that comes at him. His vision blurs back to normal coloring, and adrenaline raced through his veins. It's aimed at both his and the boy's necks, a blow to behead, so he twists his body, smashing the kid into the trunk of the tree they're on to keep him _away_ . It gets him across his arm, deep and _painful_ , shredding through the layers of flesh in one elegant _slit_ , and Madara doesn't have enough chakra to even _attempt_ to slow down the bleeding. 

He takes a deep breath, throws the smoke bombs and a few explosive tags too to distract them, and he _goes_. He moves so fast the entire world seems to turn into a blur of black and green, his legs shake as he hits each branch. A stray, sharp branch slashes across his face, but the pain doesn't register, and he's just 

just _trying_ his best. He's tired from the previous battle, out of chakra, he's got his own shinobi biting at his heels, and he's technically betraying his own clan for _one_ Senju. Everything fades away, his focus just leading him out of this labyrinth of a forest, not the Uchiha's usual territory. He only vaguely knows where he's going, but he has to avoid his clansmen and the Senju reinforcements who'll gut him on sight. 

The kid's sniffling behind him, dangling, and Madara shifts to use his hands to hold the kid up. There's a kunai in the kid's hand pointed at his throat, because they aren't friends. They aren't allies. This doesn't change anything. 

(It changes _everything_.)

By the time his legs are ready to give out, he can't breathe and he's far more tired than before, but he doesn't sense anybody behind them anymore. Madara's always been fast, much faster than anyone else in his clan besides Izuna, and he drops down from the trees. His legs shake like he's walking across water, each step is difficult in it's own way. Maybe it's the muscle exhaustion or maybe it's finally hitting Madara _what_ he just did, but his entire body feels like it's made of lead and flowing air at the same time. 

The kid still has the kunai clutched in his hand like it's the only thing saving his life, but it isn't at Madara's throat anymore. Fresh tears fall from dark brown eyes, and he sniffles loudly, and Madara doesn't know what to say. He slows his pace, heart-pounding, and he _swears_ this kid looks familiar.

(For a second, his brother's face flashes over this kid's, but he blinks it away furiously. He can't get emotional right now.)

"Why'd you…" The kid stammers out, a mixture between shocked, afraid, and far too brave for someone so small. "Why'd you do that?" He asks.

"I don't know." Madara answers, honestly. He lets his shoulders slump, and the kid's head thumps against the back of his. "I don't know." He repeats, because he doesn't know what to do now either. "But my name's Madara."

He doesn't need to hide or exchange his surname. Both of are far too aware of exactly what clan they both belong to. 

"My name's Itama."

He glances up at the glittering stars, at the light peeking out and twinkling amongst the black of the night's sky. Madara's going to be in so much trouble, and maybe so will this kid for accepting an Uchiha's help instead of dying a shinobi's loyal death, but the bees are gone from his stomach now. 

He closes his eyes for a second, frowning.

"We'll figure something. We'll both get home." He promises, both himself and the kid, and he's not sure exactly where's going, but

But his gut tells him that everything's going to be okay. 


End file.
